The present invention is directed to bicycle brake and shift operating devices and, more particularly, to a bicycle brake and shift operating device that is mountable on a handlebar of a bicycle for controlling the operation of a brake device and an electrically operated bicycle transmission.
Many current bicycle shift operating devices have the ability to electrically control the shifting of a bicycle transmission through a plurality of gear ratios. A known shift operating device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,081. That shift operating device includes shift operating members and electric switches mounted to a brake bracket and to a brake lever of a brake operating device. One shift operating member is used to control the operation of an electrically operated front derailleur, and another shift operating member is used to control the operation of an electrically operated rear derailleur. The shift operating device for the rear derailleur is disposed on the right side of the handlebar, and the shift operating device for the front derailleur is disposed on the left side of the handle bar in the same manner as conventional cable-operated shift operating devices. Each shift operating device comprises a shift switch including a lever member that pivots laterally in opposite directions from a neutral starting position. Pivoting the lever member in one direction from the neutral position produces electrical signals to upshift the bicycle transmission by one gear, and pivoting the lever member in the opposite direction from the neutral position produces electrical signals to downshift the bicycle transmission by one gear.
The lever member normally is pivoted by using one or more fingers of the rider's hand while simultaneously grasping the handlebar or the brake lever mounting bracket. Pivoting the lever member laterally inwardly towards the center of the handlebar is easy because it follows the natural bending of the fingers when the hand is grasping the handlebar. However, pivoting the lever member laterally outwardly is more difficult because it requires using a dorsal part of the finger such as the fingernail and hyperextending the finger in a manner that tends to loosen the rider's grip on the handlebar.